The Law and YouLegal scenarios and compliance strategies

Pay Back TimeIn this scenario, a lawsuit ensues as a temporary employee seeks compensationfor overtime hours she worked while on assignment—work the staffing firmowner says she was never authorized to perform. Should she be compensated?

Or fired? What if the staffing firm refuses to pay?By Stephen C. Dwyer, Esq.

Staffing firm owner Newman New- bie knows Susan Smart is a highly skilled mechanical engineer and
competitive candidate. Even if she is
high-strung, Newbie opines, clients have
been pleased with her work.

“I need to speak with you aboutsome issues I’m having with my tem-porary assignment,” Smart tells Newbieone day. “I believe you owe me a lot ofovertime.”Newbie didn’t blink. “I’ve told youbefore that, because you’re an engineer,you are exempt from overtime. I’m sorry,but that’s just the way it is.”“You’re wrong—I’m not exempt, andfor many weeks now I’ve worked morethan 40 hours each week,” Smart spitsback.

“Your timesheets don’t indicatethat you’ve worked that many hours,”Newbie retorts. “And besides, accordingto company policy, you weren’t autho-rized to work overtime unless you gotadvance approval from me.”“But you knew I was working over-time. My timesheets were incomplete